Brain Stimulator Could Prevent Migraines

harmaceuticals are so 20th century. Medicine’s buzzy new trend is electroceuticals: ways to treat ailments with electricity rather than chemicals. Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new entry into this field, when it gave the nod to a device that preventsmigraines by electrically stimulating nerves in the cranium.

The device is manufactured by the Belgian company STX-Med, and is already approved for commercial sales in Europe, Canada, and Australia.

Migraines suck. And according to new research, that terrible, debilitating pain might be one more thing you can blame on your parents.

CONFIRM CREDIT BEFORE USING THIS IMAGE

Cefaly, a battery-powered device that resembles a tiara or a headband, can be used for daily 20-minute sessions. The FDA says this treatment may help migraine patients who can’t tolerate or don’t respond to medication.

The device works by stimulating the trigeminal nerve, the largest cranial nerve, which carries sensory information from the face to the brain, and which has also been associated with the pain of migraine headaches. According to the Cefaly website, its mechanism is based on the gate control theory of pain.

By providing sensory input to the nerves, the device essentially keeps a neural gate closed to pain input. This theory explains why you rub your elbow after banging it — the sensory stimulus overrides the pain stimulus, which is transmitted to the brain on different nerve fibers.

The FDA’s approval is based on several studies conducted in Europe. One study of 67 migraine patients, published last month in Neurology, found that Cefaly users experienced significantly fewer migraines over the course of a month than patients who used a placebo device.